CASE STUDY Over the Bounding Main Luke Dwyer and Sue Mayes met when they were both sails, and all the other standard shipboard activities. crewing on a yacht in a round-the-world sailing race. For the privilege of co-producing their own sailing expe- They married, started a software business on a shoe- rience, the guests were to pay anywhere from $4,500 string, came up with several innovative ideas that enabled for a one-month onboard stay to $60,000 for the full them to attain financial security, and then started looking eighteen-month round-the-world trip. for a way of life that would be more fun if perhaps not as profitable. Running a bed and breakfast was one possibil- After about six months, approximately half of the ity, but it seemed rather tame. passenger-guests had experienced the thrill of a lifetime. The other half wanted their money back. They didn't Then Sue saw an article in a shipping magazine about enjoy sleeping in bunks in one big dorm-type room, get- the Shingo Maru, a small 1920s-vintage freighter for sale. ting seasick, using a hose for a shower, being without Luke and Sue sent off for a set of the freighter's plans, TV, eating canned and dried foods (the ship had no re- looked them over with a maritime architect, and decided frigeration), and having little privacy. Some guests just to convert the ship into a kind of floating wilderness ex- couldn't learn the ropes," and the experienced sailors perience. They figured that a certain part of the cruise among the crew didn't seem to be able to teach them clientele must be tired of the typical big-boat cruise, how. One guest, who later claimed that he had been where all you did was sit around on deck or by the pool forced to climb the five-story mainmast, curled up into all day, eat huge fattening meals, and drink all night a paralyzed ball and had to be airlifted by helicopter to while watching mediocre entertainment and waiting for shore. He later sued the Dwyers and Windenwaves Part- the midnight buffet. Luke and Sue would give guests an ners Ltd. for $750,000 and won; the Dwyers had not opportunity not to be pampered but to take part in an thought to get insurance protection against such an experience they would remember for the rest of their action. lives: helping to sail a ship around the world or, for the The delighted guests thought their trip on the Wind- less committed, some part of it. emwaves was a high point in their lives, and not just be- About a million dollars and four years later, the con- cause of the climb up that five-story mast. Said one, version was complete, and Sue was breaking a bottle of "Everybody who's been on a sailboat dreams of a trip champagne against the prow of the now-christened like this. We saw places and things we would never get Winderwaves, a classic square-rigged, three-masted sail- to see in any other way." The disappointed guests were ing ship with a top mast five stories high. The ports of really disappointed. They saw no reason why they should call on its maiden voyage were going to be romantic- pay so much money and have to do so much of the work sounding, faraway places that most people experienced themselves. Said one, I wanted a relaxing cruise. They treated me like a common sailor; made me scrub the only through the novels of Joseph Conrad and Robert Louis Stevenson: Bali, Zanzibar, Bora Bora, Fiji, the decks and empty the slop. At those prices, who needs it? Next time, I'm going on the Disney Magic. Galapagos Islands, Tahiti, Samoa, Barbados, and Antigua. About half the time would be spent sightseeing in these ports and about half the time at sea. The hired 1. Which dangers of co-production became realities for Luke and Sue? crew of twelve, all of them veteran sailors, would help the three dozen paying guests learn to climb the masts, 2. How might they have headed off those dangers by stand proper watch, navigate by the stars, steer, repair planning more thoroughly